1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a training apparatus used as a means for training athletes. Additionally, this invention relates to a muscle conditioning apparatus to be used for the rehabilitation of disabled or injured individuals.
2. Background Art
Over the years, training apparatus have been developed which involve tethering an athlete to a stationary object. An early example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,238 issued to Thatcher. In this patent, the athlete, wearing an upper body harness connected by a tether to a shock absorbing spring assembly, is fastened to either a fixed pole, a weighted bag, or another athlete. As the athlete rushes away from the pole, he is forcibly stopped by the maximum expansion limit of the spring assembly. The upper body harness, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,238, is designed to impact or strike the athlete in what is considered the best position to knock an opponent down. The force is imparted at the chest or breast bone area, above his center of gravity. The device is also used with a release tether to develop breakaway balance skills and prevent the athlete from relying on the opponent's counter-force to keep the athlete from falling.
Another known tethering example is the kicking device of Piccini disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,548. In the Piccini device, a restraining element is applied to the kicking foot of a player which, in turn, is secured to a strap anchored at a remote position. The player, positioning the pivot foot firmly on the ground, exercises the kicking leg by bending the knee with toes pointing downward, then moving the knee to a position where the leg is substantially straight. This device discloses an elastic band, for encircling the ankle of a player, having an elastomeric strap secured at the rear portion of the band adjacent the achilles heel of the player, for anchoring the strap at a position remote from the point where it is attached to the ankle band. Desirably, a clip with a ring is secured to the rear portion of the strap so that the strap can be attached to a tree, post, or other anchor position adjacent to the ground or floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,819,177, issued to Spiro, discloses an elastic exercise belt which comprises a length of elastic webbing that uses VELCRO or hook and loop fasteners to provide a tensional force during isometric exercises